Where the Bengals stand in NFL dynasty rankings

For the first time in nearly 20 seasons, regardless of how you feel about them, we will get to witness history as the Kansas City Chiefs go for something that has never been done in NFL history: a third straight Super Bowl championship.

Bengals fans have seen Joe Burrow lead Cincinnati to three wins over Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs, including one in the 2021 AFC Championship. Those fans would contend, with a lot of concurrence from the local and national media, that the Bengals are the biggest challengers to the Chiefs and their quest for a three-peat.

Recently, Kristopher Knox of Bleacher Report ranked the eight NFL teams most likely to become the NFL’s next dynasty. Knox ranked the Bengals No. 7 on the list, ahead of only the Chicago Bears. There are reasons and concerns Knox cites as to why the Bengals are only No. 7 on the list.

Knox says, “Of course, there are reasons why the Bengals aren’t higher on this list. Key players like Tee Higgins and Trey Hendrickson are set to be free agents in 2025 and 2026, respectively, and both requested trades earlier this offseason. Cincinnati’s 31st-ranked defense was a problem last season, and there are questions about head coach Zac Taylor and about Burrow’s ability to stay on the field.”

I’ll admit: I don’t know what this team will look like after the 2024 season. But what I do know is this: as long as Joe Burrow is here, the Bengals are going to be in contention every season.

In the two full seasons Burrow has been healthy, the Bengals have played in the AFC Championship Game and also Super Bowl LVI. Burrow threw for 525 and 446 yards in back-to-back games against the Ravens and Chiefs in 2021 as the Bengals clinched the AFC North, and Burrow then used both his arm and legs to bring the Bengals back from down 21-3 to win the AFC Championship at Kansas City.

When the Bengals were just 4-4 and without Ja’Marr Chase eight games into 2022, it was Burrow who put the Bengals on his back and led them to eight straight wins to close out the regular season. Then, in the playoffs, despite missing three starting offensive linemen, Burrow still had the Bengals on the doorstep of beating the Chiefs again in the AFC Championship.

Knox cites that, “Burrow feels destined to eventually lift the Lombardi Trophy, and if he does, the Bengals could finally have themselves a dynasty. Cincinnati has good younger players like wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase, offensive tackle Orlando Brown Jr., cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt and safety Dax Hill. More importantly, Burrow is under contract through 2029, and the Bengals aren’t in a financial bind. The Bengals are projected to have $57.2 million in cap space next offseason.”

It’s not just Joe Burrow being Patrick Mahomes’s biggest challenger. Think about Zac Taylor. In the Mahomes-Reid era, which began in 2018, Taylor is one of just five head coaches to have three wins against the Chiefs. And, aside from Bill Belichick and Bruce Arians, Taylor is the only other head coach with a win over the Chiefs in the playoffs. It’s crazy how close Zac Taylor was to having two AFC Championships in 2022, which would have been the same number that the Chiefs had in the Mahomes era at that time.

While Knox cites that there are questions about Taylor and that the Bengals have finished in last place in the AFC North three times in his five seasons as head coach, the positives outweigh those questions. Taylor built this Bengals culture from the ground up, going from 2-14 to back-to-back appearances in the AFC Championship. And despite a last-place finish in the AFC North in 2023, the Bengals still finished 9-8, even with Joe Burrow missing the last seven games of the season.

The six teams ahead of the Bengals include the Ravens, Packers, Eagles, Texans, Lions, and the 49ers. Notice how all six of those teams made the playoffs in 2023, with five of those teams winning at least one playoff game. But if Joe Burrow had been healthy for 17 games in 2023, would the Bengals have made the playoffs?

It would be very interesting to see these rankings if the Bengals had made the playoffs in 2023. There’s a sentiment across the local and national media that the Bengals will be back in the playoffs in 2024. The main reason why is Burrow returning and, hopefully, staying healthy for the entire season. And when the Bengals have gotten into the playoffs in Burrow’s career, they have been to at least the AFC Championship and were less than two minutes away from winning the Super Bowl in 2021.

Burrow has proven to be Mahomes’s biggest rival, beating him three times to just one loss. It’s not just Burrow, though, that makes the Bengals a formidable challenger to the Chiefs. While they may be sixth in Bleacher Report’s next dynasty rankings, what we have seen in the past and will likely see this season suggests that they are very capable of being the team to dethrone the Chiefs this season.

The Bengals, led by Burrow, have consistently proven they can beat Mahomes and the Chiefs. They will have the opportunity to do so again early this season when the Bengals and Chiefs meet in Week 2, and they may have the opportunity to do so again in the playoffs.